TV Shows The Networks Didn't Want To Admit Were About Gay People (PHOTOS)

Growing up I loved the shows on this list, but even as a wee one I knew they weren't what they claimed. All of these shows focused on gay couples who (for some reason) weren't allowed to be gay on TV, so ridiculous back stories and ludicrous plot twists were introduced to explain same-sex couples raising children, living together, or being psychiatrists.

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My Two Dads

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In this show, a single mother dies leaving her daughter parentless. She never knew who the real father of her child was (SLUT), so instead of a running a simple DNA test, the two men move in together and raise the child together. Um, yeah, this show is about two gay men raising their daughter, but I guess no one was ok with that in the 80s so they cast seriously butch actors like Paul Reiser and came up with a preposterous back story. PS - Acid-wash jeans + Cosby sweaters = amazing

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In this show, a single mother dies leaving her daughter parentless. She never knew who the real father of her child was (SLUT), so instead of a running a simple DNA test, the two men move in together and raise the child together.

Um, yeah, this show is about two gay men raising their daughter, but I guess no one was ok with that in the 80s so they cast seriously butch actors like Paul Reiser and came up with a preposterous back story.

PS - Acid-wash jeans + Cosby sweaters = amazing

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Comments

[Frederick Szczepanski]

03:12 PM on 03/11/2010

This is old, but Frasier's producers said that they, at one point, were going to show Maris, but the jokes became so intense/dramatic (implying that she only weighed like 75 lbs in an alarm code they entered in one episode) that it was eventually impossible to actually find an actor that met all of their specs/jokes.

[TheGripester]

01:20 PM on 02/25/2010

Um...these are shows in which the author comically projects a gay theme or agenda onto a program regardless of its actual theme. However, there is a huge, uninformed hole in the article - it leaves out the program "Bewitched." Its star Elizabeth Montgomery admitted many years ago that her co-star Dick Sargent encouraged the writers to reshape the show's themes to obliquely address the struggles of a closeted gay couple in a suburban setting. Sargent, unlike the stars of these other shows, was actually gay, and did much work to raise awareness of homosexual rights and issues in the 90's.

If you watch "Bewitched," it all makes perfect sense - the nosy neighbors - the couple with a secret that no one must know - and the outrageously camp mother-in-law Endora as token drag queen. But this is not just a joke, it is a part of actual Hollywood history, and the author should not have left it out.

[AvalonM]

03:16 PM on 02/25/2010

It's true, Bewitched had so much gayness going on--don't forget Paul Lynde. And Elizabeth Montgomery was gorgeous enough to turn almost any woman. There's a fun song playing on this this gay subtext in the wonderful show "Howard Crabtree's When Pigs Fly," by Mark Waldrop and Dick Gallagher. You may well know it, but if not, I highly recommend the original cast recording on RCAVictor BMG Classics; the whole thing is great fun, tuneful, hilarious, with some very rousing, some very touching moments.

[AvalonM]

04:38 PM on 02/25/2010

It's true, Bewitched had so much gayness going on--don't forget Paul Lynde. And Elizabeth Montgomery was gorgeous enough to turn almost any woman. There's a fun song playing on this this gay subtext in the wonderful show "Howard Crabtree's When Pigs Fly," by Mark Waldrop and Dick Gallagher. You may well know it, but if not, I highly recommend the original cast recording on RCAVictor BMG Classics; the whole thing is great fun, tuneful, hilarious, with some very rousing, some very touching moments.

[thomas37]

02:11 AM on 02/25/2010

What about the Lone Ranger and Tonto? What do you think "Kemo sabe" means?

[BEHM777]

08:53 AM on 02/25/2010

"Kemo sabe" means "he didn't know". Look it up.

[Battastic]

11:49 PM on 02/24/2010

Please stop perpetuating the silly myth that Bert and Ernie are gay. First of all, they are puppets with no sexuality what-so-ever. Secondly they are brother, not lovers. Geez it's a children's show. Um, same for Frasier and Niles. They are brothers. The rest are all silly, and who cares. Does it mean anything anyway. Why must it always be gay/straight anyway?

[StevenM]

06:16 AM on 02/25/2010

I guess you haven’t seen the paparazzi photos of Bert and Ernie, have you? But you miss the point, gayness is not about having correct anatomical parts, but it is how one feels on the inside. And Bert and Ernie have feelings, just as much as any other fictional character on TV. Perhaps what these fictional characters do when they are not on TV is none of our business, but many of these fictional characters were born gay, it is not their fault!

[Battastic]

09:10 AM on 02/25/2010

So I am guessing that I should believe paparazzi photos? Such reliable sources anyway. As for them having correct anatomical parts, I am well aware that genitals do not determine sexuality. If the puppeteers who manipulate B & E are gay then bravo for them. I find it incredibly silly when anyone, including the paparazzi, try to take two characters from a child's television program and try to twist it into something. And PLEASE do not try to make me out to be some homophobic person. I am perfectly aware that being gay is not a choice, and is never anyone's fault.

[NomadicView]

06:57 AM on 02/27/2010

Are you joking? One of the biggest stories of 1999 and you were sleeping??!
Bert and Ernie: the sex tapes
Like Duh

[maigoro]

09:36 AM on 02/25/2010

I agree with Battastic. Who cares? Gayness has been around as long as sex. If we would all stop making it so mysterious and secretive maybe "the gays" can finally live normally.

[Battastic]

04:21 PM on 02/25/2010

Right on!!

[jsump]

10:30 PM on 02/24/2010

You've got GAYDAR. What a skill. Now what good is it?

[OliverTwist]

10:23 PM on 02/24/2010

Nah.

[jsump]

10:18 PM on 02/24/2010

I guess if it helps you sleep nights. However, among the shows that I am familiar with, I don't see the gay angle. In fact, this article displays a certain amount of bigotry to say that two or more people of the same sex cannot live together and not be gay.

[StevenM]

07:25 AM on 02/25/2010

There is no bigotry, because the article wasn't about real people, rather it speculates about what fictional characters do when they are off screen. I'm sure that just off Sesame Street there is a bar where Bert and Ernie hang out after a hard day of filming the TV show. The only question is whether it is a gay or straight bar.

[Gerald Bowman]

08:41 PM on 02/24/2010

Wow. There are a lot of homophobic morons in the world. Hundreds have posted on this thread. What makes someone gay? I always thought it was having sex with someone of the same sex. How many of these characters were portrayed as even having sexual interest in someone of the same sex? Oh, don't tell me, there are racy outtakes from Sesame Street that I missed where Bert and Ernie do the nasty? You people are disturbed.

[StevenM]

06:28 AM on 02/25/2010

I’m amazed at how many people don’t get the joke. The assumption that fictional characters have secret private lives away from the screen which we can gossip about is the joke! That you and many others get upset when it is suggested that these fictional character must have had gay sex off screen seems to only show that the suggestion that some people might be gay is still deemed to be an insult for some people. Why not take it as a complement? And if we did have outtakes where Bert and Ernie confessed to being gay lovers, what would that prove? That they were really gay, or was just written that way?

[Battastic]

09:15 AM on 02/25/2010

I think the point, at least for me, with Bert and Ernie is that I grew up thinking they were brothers (which they are). So maybe in your happy fiction land siblings having a sexual realtionship, gay or straight, is hunky-dory. But for a lot of us it is disturbing to think that people would want to make them gay. It has nothing to do with thinking that homosexuality is an insult, but it's lovely that is the first place you jump to, accussing people of disliking the idea of homosexuality.

[SocksForChristmas]

11:24 AM on 02/25/2010

No, WANTING to have sex and/or romance with someone of the same sex is what makes someone gay. Whether or not you ever do anything about it is beside the point.

[Dan in Florida]

05:52 PM on 02/27/2010

I was told by a very wise person: "who you have sex with does not determine your sexuality - it's who you dream about having sex with......"

[LMPE]

06:28 PM on 02/24/2010

Do we include shows that clearly focused on heterosexuals but developed a following among gays? "Bewitched" and "I Dream of Jeannie" are among that number.

[James Banda]

05:11 PM on 02/24/2010

Ok

Kate & Alley were definitely a lesbian couple...I could tell that when I was a kid. My two dads & Frasier are probable. Bert and Ernie....that's a maybe

However, I think it is a big stretch for all the other shows.

I mean come on...I love all people no matter what their preference may be, but this is pushing it too far.

[StevenM]

06:20 PM on 02/24/2010

You miss the point. The article wasn't about the sexual preference of real people, but of fictional characters. And who knows what they do when they are off screen! After all, many of them where born gay, it is not their fault!

[JohnJeter]

06:55 PM on 02/24/2010

Banana Splits - hellooooa. Even the name ... c'mon.

More DADT: M*A*S*H - tell me Trapper and Hawkeye ... Radar, anyone? Forget Klinger.

[Phranquenstew]

04:04 PM on 02/24/2010

McHale's Navy, anyone? I know, gay sailors... preposterous!
Gomer Pyle? Marines
Hogan's Heroes? Mixed services, but mostly air force/luftwaffe
Don't ask, don't tell

[Christopher Huber]

04:02 PM on 02/24/2010

You can take any show and by warped sense of inadequacy make it a show about gay men or lesbians. Now this writer will be wanting us to figure out how many times wally gave it to the Beaver.

[StevenM]

06:30 AM on 02/25/2010

One never knows what fictional characters do when they are off screen.

[Battastic]

09:17 AM on 02/25/2010

I am guessing since they are fictional characters they probably do nothing off screen, since they don't exist off screen.

[Dan in Florida]

05:56 PM on 02/27/2010

Wally never did the Beaver. It was always Eddie Haskell!

[Phranquenstew]

03:50 PM on 02/24/2010

Aside from a few comments from people taking this WAY TOO SERIOUSLY, this was fun! Thanks for the break!

[stuckintraffic]

03:44 PM on 02/24/2010

What about superheros? What adult straight man runs around wearing form-fitting tights, capes, and the most vibrant colors you can find.

[jsump]

10:31 PM on 02/24/2010

Cloths make you gay?

[StevenM]

06:31 AM on 02/25/2010

This is a variation of the chicken & egg problem. Do the clothes make you gay, or do gay people prefer certain types of clothes? You decide!

[stuckintraffic]

11:56 AM on 02/27/2010

Only when you wear a cape!

[mbcullen]

02:59 PM on 02/25/2010

Batman and Robin, anybody? But I guess Catwoman was seductive!

[Phranquenstew]

03:35 PM on 02/24/2010

A few they forgot:
Battlestar Galactica, Laverne & Shirley (2 couples if you count Lenny & Squiggy), My Favorite Martian ("Uncle" Martin.... Puh-leez!), Perfect Strangers, Bosom Buddies, and don't forget Gilligan's Island, little buddy!

[LMPE]

06:27 PM on 02/24/2010

"Gilligan's Island" of course. That show had both gays (Gilligan and the Skipper) and lesbians (Ginger and Mary Ann).

[SocksForChristmas]

11:25 AM on 02/25/2010

Dude, I've read "Laverne and Shirley" slash (that is, homoerotic) fanfiction. I sort of dared myself. I regret it. You'd be better off not going there.